Tehran raises pressure on Karroubi with investigation

Tehran: Iranian authorities on Tuesday launched a provocative attack on the opposition movement by announcing a special investigation into prominent cleric Mahdi Karroubi over his accusations that security forces raped and tortured protesters following the disputed June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The move against Karroubi, a revered figure from Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, is an attack on the heart of the opposition. It's an indication that the government is increasing pressure on top dissenters, even clerics, and it follows the death sentences handed down in recent days against at least two anti-government protesters.

The investigation will test the resolve of the opposition and has the potential to unleash another round of street demonstrations that in recent weeks have been largely thwarted by the Revolutionary Guard and the Basiji militia.

At a rally in September, protesters shouted: "If Karroubi is arrested, there will be insurrections across Iran."

The official Iranian news agency, Irna, reported that "a legal case prepared by the judicial investigative committee has been sent to the Tehran prosecutor over Karroubi's claims."

Special court

Chief Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi was quoted by the agency as saying: "Karroubi is a cleric, and his remarks should be studied at the special court for the clergy. Some people have also been summoned in connection with the case."

The 72-year-old cleric, whose offices were recently raided by government authorities who seized documents and computer files, has charged that security forces and prison guards raped detained protesters. The government has denied the claims, and Ahmadinejad and hard-line Republican Guard commanders have repeatedly called for his arrest.

A judiciary panel found that Karroubi's "allegations are unsubstantiated, and documents submitted are totally fabricated and aimed at misleading public opinion." Karroubi, a former speaker of the Iranian parliament, finished fourth in the June presidential elections. He has aligned himself with opposition leader Mir Hussain Mousavi and former President Mohammad Khatami in calling for an end to police intimidation against demonstrators and in accusing Ahmadinejad of winning a fraudulent election. At least 30 people have been killed in post election unrest, and more than 100 protesters are on trial before the nation's Revolutionary Court.

If Karroubi is accused by a clerical court of "spreading false news and slanders against the regime, the rift between the people and the regime will widen and many other officials may be tried," said Nemat Ahmadi, a human rights lawyer. "

"Karroubi is not simply a person. He was twice speaker of parliament, and he was close to the late Ayatollah Khomeini in the pre- and post-revolution Iran. I hope this is not more than just a threat against him and doesn't lead to a trial in clerical court."

Mohammad Siefzadeh, a human rights lawyer who recently has been forbidden to leave Iran, said: "I do not know what will happen to Mr Karroubi, but I know if he cannot prove his assertions [of torture] by concrete evidence, he will not be given an exception, no matter how well-established a politician, cleric and revolutionary he is."

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in September, Karroubi said: "I won't go underground. I act publicly and openly. Even if I am arrested and jailed and released, I will go back to open activities."

US ignoring rights abuses

Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi accused the United States on Tuesday of turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Iran as it seeks to rein in Tehran's nuclear programme.

A Nobel Peace laureate, Ebadi congratulated US President Barack Obama on being awarded the prize last week and suggested she hoped it would widen his view of peace to include the basic rights of people to live in freedom and dignity. Ebadi left Iran just before its disputed June 12 election, which triggered huge opposition protests, plunged Iran into its worst political crisis since the Islamic revolution 30 years ago and revealed deepening rifts within its ruling elites.

Opposition leaders believe the poll was rigged to secure the re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but the authorities deny this and portray the protests as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the Islamic Republic.

In an interview, Ebadi decried the prosecution of people accused of involvement in the demonstrations as "show trials" and she said the authorities recently sentenced three people to death so as to intimidate others who are in prison.

She also said the United States, and the West, have placed their interest in halting Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons above protecting the rights of Iran's people.

Saying Iran has the world's highest rate of juvenile death sentences and the largest number of imprisoned journalists, Ebadi asked: "So [why] does the West, and especially the United States, choose to close its eyes to these facts?"

"If Mr Obama is saying that he wants to press the hand of friendship of other nations [why] does he choose to press the hand of a country that violates human rights?" she asked.